Friday - August 16, 2013

Sounds Like A No Brainer To Me

The other kind of no-brainer. Not the one that’s a dead easy decision. The one that’s caused by having no brain.

As Egypt descends into chaos, President Obama is facing increasing criticism that an “incoherent” policy toward the country—much like U.S. policy toward Syria—is putting U.S. money and influence on the line without a clear end-game.

The Obama administration claims to be staying neutral in the violent confrontation between the military-backed government and Muslim Brotherhood supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi. More than 600 people have been killed so far across the country.

“America cannot determine the future of Egypt,” Obama said Thursday, in brief remarks from Martha’s Vineyard, where he’s vacationing, as he appealed for calm and condemned the violence.

Yet the administration is sending mixed signals. While the president directly spoke out against the military-backed government on Thursday—and canceled upcoming joint military exercises—the U.S. has refused to label Morsi’s ouster a coup. That means, under U.S. law, the administration can continue to send $1.5 billion in annual aid to the Egyptian government.

The mixed signals raise concern that the U.S. is simply breeding distrust on both sides.

...

“While President Obama ‘condemns the violence in Egypt,’ his administration continues to send billions of taxpayer dollars to help pay for it,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said in a statement on Thursday.

John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under the George W. Bush administration, called the current policy “completely incoherent.”

“You can’t have your press secretary say ... that this is up for Egyptians to answer, and then try and get in the middle of it,” Bolton said.

Yeah, well, this isn’t exactly something new. Didn’t we hear that same fiddle playing in Iraq? Seems to me we’ve heard it over here any number of times as well.

Yup, when it’s time to choose sides, when it’s time to make a real decision, up or down, friend or foe, black or white, Obama votes “present”. As usual.

Hey, I know what! Let’s send John Effin’ Kerry over there. He’s our Secretary of State. He can solve this, I’m sure. He served in Vietnam you know.

At least 638 people were confirmed killed and nearly 4,000 wounded in Wednesday’s violence, sparked when riot police backed by armored vehicles, snipers and bulldozers smashed the two sit-ins in Cairo where ousted President Mohammed Morsi’s supporters had been camped out for six weeks to demand his reinstatement.

...

President Barack Obama canceled joint U.S.-Egypt military exercises scheduled for next month, although he gave no indication that the U.S. planned to cut off its $1.3 billion in annual military aid to the country. The U.S. administration has avoided declaring Morsi’s ouster a coup, which would force it to suspend the military aid.

“While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back,” Obama said, speaking from his weeklong vacation in Massachusetts.

Egypt’s interim government issued a late night statement saying the country is facing “terrorist actions targeting government and vital institutions” by “violent militant groups.” The statement expressed “sadness” for the killings of Egyptians and pledged to work on restoring law and order.

The statement also warned that Obama’s position “while it’s not based on facts can empower the violent militant groups and encourage them in its anti-stability discourse.”

Posted by Drew458     on 08/16/2013 at 07:21 AM   
Filed Under: • Middle-East • Obama, The One •  
• Comments (5) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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